Mr. Cullen would rather not see it coming around the mountain

CN's proposed pipeline on rails may have intrigued the officials of the Port of Prince Rupert, but as for the MP for the Northwest, Nathan Cullen will it seems prove to be a harder sell.

Cullen, the MP for Skeena-Bulkley Valley, has expressed his hesitations and concerns over the planned project to transport oil and other bulk liquids to the North Coast via the railroad. He is of the opinion that there is just too much danger involved to send such commodities to the coast along the railroad, not to mention his previous concerns over tanker traffic on the west coast in the first place.

He outlined his thoughts on the issue in the Tuesday edition of the Daily News.

MP DISAGREES WITH CN TRANSPORT OF OIL
By George T. Baker
The Daily News
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Page three

The hot idea to bring Albertan oil received a cold splash from Nathan Cullen.

When asked if there was anything happening behind the scenes that his constituents weren't aware of, Cullen weighed in on the subject of oil transportation via CN rail.

The Skeena-BulkleyValley MP said that he disagrees with Prince Rupert Port Authority president and CEO, Don Kruse!, who believes there has been some ongoing interest in bringing oil from Alberta through Prince Rupert. Krusel has indicated that bringing oil and other bulk liquids to the North Coast on rail lines is a good idea.

"On this one, I have to disagree with the Port in Prince Rupert," said Cullen. "The risks involved with putting this much condensate in tankers and running [rail cars] up and down the Skeena River is just fraught with danger.

"I can't be convinced that this is a good idea." Cullen said he didn't see how CN's plan solved the questions about tanker traffic in Hecate Strait.

CN believes that putting terminals on a rail tern would be like adding a peripheral to your computer - there wouldn't be any need for a massive new system.

Because the rail line already exists in Prince Rupert, the amount of work needed to move forward is less than a proposed pipeline project.

For Prince Rupert, the dilemma remains concerning the conflict between more tanker traffic and job security. While there has been discussion over the value of a pipeline project for Kitimat, that equation could change if an alternate plan proposes to bring oil directly to Prince Rupert.

But neither the PRPA nor CN have said that there have been any discussions between the two organizations concerning the possibility of bringing oil here.

Cullen said that the basis of CN's eagerness to do so was because that it would pass through an easier regulation process than Enbridge's Northern Gateway project.

"One of the reasons that folks at CN were proposing this is that they thought they wouldn't have to do any kind of environmental assessment, if they just put it on the rail cars as opposed to a pipeline."

CN's pipeline on rails could change the nature of oil shipments in the Northwest

CN Rail is working out the details on an ambitious plan to move Alberta oil from the Tar Sands and elsewhere to shipment points wherever their rails may go.

The Financial Post has been reviewing the plans of the railway to use insulated and heatable rail cars to move the resources of Alberta to ports whether they be in Prince Rupert, Vancouver or the southern USA.

It's a strategy that could reduce the cost of shipping oil from Alberta and make the use of costly and environmentally troublesome pipelines no longer viable.

The railroad will start the project off with small steps over the next few months with plans to move some 10,000 barrels of oil from Alberta to shipment points.

The potential for CN to ship up to four million barrels of oil a day, however is considered a major change in the distribution system and could provide for much volume for the railroad and whatever ports happen to be the home of the shipment locations.

It also could change the thinking of the recent plans to build a pipeline from Alberta to Kitimat, BC, which while still in the study phase has been receiving much attention of late.

With CN announcing their new concept of shipping the resource and reportedly at a less cost than the pipelines can provide, the prospect of the project moving quickly seems quite possible. Though you might wonder what kind of environmental concerns the railroad will be involved with, and how much infrastructure will be needed along the way to delivering on their goal of a steady flow of oil from Alberta to world markets.

For Prince Rupert, home of the western terminus of the northern route for CN Rail it will be interesting to see how this new project may impact on the local economy and if it provides for more infrastructure here in the way of a shipment terminal, or if Kitimat's port project may yet have life, with CN rebuilding their rail infrastructure to that port using it as the shipment point.

National Post-- CN plans oil sands pipeline on rails

National Post-- CN idea a winner for oil sands

Huffington Post-- Game-changer: Canadian oil sands will bypass US for Asia